Senator Mike Lee on Violence Against Women Act

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) made the case that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), passed by the Senate, “oversteps the Constitution’s rightful limits on federal power.”

Sen. Lee argued on the Senate floor that “everyone agrees that violence against women is reprehensible.” He went on to make the case that this is an issue better left to the states and not an issue in the constitutional purview of the federal government.

Sen. Lee argues that there are three reasons why the VAWA should not have been passed by the United States Senate:

Sen. Lee made the argument that domestic violence is one of the few activities that our U.S. Supreme Court has specifically held that Congress can not regulate under the Commerce Clause. Lee stated that “violent Crimes are regulated an enforced almost exclusively by state governments.” James Madison wrote in Federalist 45 that “the powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.” State governments have been traditionally the reservoir of police powers in our great nation.

Sen. Lee also argued that the legislation restricts “each state’s ability to govern itself.” The mandates attached to the legislation interfere with the decisions better made at the state and local level. Lee argued that “state and local leaders should have flexibility in enforcing state law and tailoring victims’ services to the individualized needs of their communities, rather than having to comply with one-size-fits-all federal requirements.” The idea of federalism is that the federal government should not interfere with decisions better made at the state and local level, yet the strings attached to this legislation are a mandate on the states.

Sen. Lee further argued that, if you accept that this bill is constitutional, it has problems. Lee stated that “the current reauthorization fails to address many instances of duplication and overlap among VAWA and other programs operated by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. Nor does it address the grant management failings identified by the Government Accountability Office.”

Senator Mike Lee is spot on. Raising the reauthorization of VAWA to a national fight is using the legislation as a political talking point against conservatives. This legislation is unconstitutional and fundamentally flawed with duplication and waste.

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Brian Darling is a former senior communications director for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and a former senior fellow in government studies at The Heritage Foundation. Previously, as director of Senate relations at Heritage, he was responsible for educating senators and their staffs about the think tank's research and policy recommendations.

I don't want to shock anyone, but women can be and are as violent as men. I'm guessing that any spousal abuse by women goes unreported. That does not mean it isn't happening. Violence is violence and it matters not who or why it is being done. It also doesn't matter if it is a black, white, or purple human being or what they are thinking.

Thank you kindly, Mr. Lee. Please know that it is you and the like minded protecting women and encouraging the more effective, efficient, practical governing to the states as the feds should never have interfered or intervened by unconstitutional authority! Pelosi and wasserman schultz are disservicing the female gender by thinking bureaucratic decisions that are irrelevant to the care and medicine focused on expense alone, are better made then our own!

Private market is trusting with accountability! The government stands for neither!

whether pelosi and wasserman schultz and all the like minded democrat women no it or not they're setting women and girls up for Sharia law! Please remove the unconstitutional control from the talons of this administration and don't let Nancy's threats discourage you. She's totally hyperbolic through her dentures!

Women don't want to have to be compromised or exploited by force to be put through this and that program to fill the federal government health care make work agenda that is destroying health care in itself!!

Here's a quick example. I have a condition that interferes with weight gain. I was sent by my doctor, to a nutritionist who asked me questions none of which I didn't know the answers to and then told me to eat cheese to gain weight. Sure I can go for that? After leaving it occurred to me, according to their records I have high cholesterol which cheese promotes! Misdirecting can kill! Waste of time, money, health and my energy!

I have horror stories! One of a friend of mine who died from cancer her "medical team" made cruder and crueler. For every person as a team player, asks the same questions? How is that beneficial? Then you have one "team player" saying this "team player" shouldn't have said that? The neglect, the confusions, the incompetence is inhumane! There's no communication between "medical team players" which is only more stress to the already sickened and all for the sake of MAKE-WORK making heath more complicated at higher costs!!!

I did go off into the medical field neglecting the issue of violence. But there's another look to where the women in the democratic field put everything on women! "violence against women act?" speaks about women but exposes NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO INDICATE THE PERPETRATORS! Same with contraception. Putting women solely responsible leaving out the other responsible factor, MEN! All Sharia! Protecting men without manhood! HOLD WOMEN ACCOUNTABLE TO THE CHOSEN ACTS OF MEN WHO AREN'T MEN ENOUGH TO FACE THEIR RIGHTFUL ACCOUNTABILITIES???! Nancy and Debbie think Sharia is a good idea??? I pray they don't have girls at vulnerable ages!!!

Um, no. You should look into how well states are doing prosecuting domestic violence cases. Here in NC, we have a charge that is commonly used in DV cases: MISDEMEANOR Assault With a Deadly Weapon. Here's how that works out: a man shoots or stabs his wife or girlfriend and, unless it involves a serious injury, it's charged as a misdemeanor. We had a terrible case in NC involving a man who kidnapped his estranged wife and two year old daughter and drove them across country in an eighteen wheeler (his cousin drove). He beat Deanna fir five days, non-stop. When the truck was stopped , he was NOT ARRESTED. When Deanna came back to NC the local prosecutor treated her case as if was no big deal. The advocate contacted the FBI and he was prosecuted federally and received a sentence of 22 years. So VAWA made a huge difference–if it wasn't for VAWA, he would be free, continuing his reign of terror against any/all women he could get his hands on.

I view this issue differently based on the slow shift directed at both genders for public viewing.
Violence Against woman start with television programming:.
The clear message leveled against women is the central theme of the majority of all T.V.entertainment that focuses on the young adult audience.
It's based on slut behavior, violence toward women, hood vocabulary, no goals, no focus in life, accept servicing the recent man in their life. No core values, or respect for others, scamming one another, cheating, lying, and NO ONE WORKS.
Nothing has been done to stop this degrading behavior and more of the same has been piled on, called reality T.V. entertainment.
Yes, the violence towards woman will continue since the message sent, directly or subliminal, strengthens the message, thousands of times a day: "We deserve it."

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